Invalid bed



Nov. 16 1926. I

E. H. WILLIAMS NVALID BED llllllllllll llvlllIL/wIhIJWmrl |k|\ w rl nc te 0 h s S t e e h.. S 4 3 2 9 1 3. 2 v. O N d e l .1 nr @wld a afm; O,RM.

WZ'ZZZMINVENTQR/ WITNESSES Nov. '16 1926.

E. H. WILLIAMS INVALID BED Filed NOV. 25 1923 y 4 Shets-Sheet 3 .HHHlllllhlllllllihlllllllH ATFQSNEY Nov. 16 ,1926. 1,607,420

' E. H. wiLLxAMs INVALID BED Filed Nov. 23 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 "iminnaar 'g l EZZ'WZZ'QIMINVENTOR, y

Patented Nov. 16, 1926.

Unirse STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELI H. WILLIAMS, QF WATERTOWN, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR v01? ONE-THIRD TO S.VIN- SON WILLIAMS AND ONE-THIRD T ALVIE C. PHILLIPS, BOTH OF WATERTOWN,

TENNESSEE.

INVALID BED.

Application filed November 23,1923. Serial No. 676,576.

This invent-ion relates to bedsteads, and is more particularly directedto an invalid bed which is capable of various adjustments.

The object of the invention is to provide a bed having a plurality ofyieldable bed springs which may be readily adjusted to various positionsfor supporting patients in the most comfortable manner, the variouspositions being effected and the changes being made in a manner which isvery favorable and desirable for the patient.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing forming part of this specification, with the understanding',however, that the invention is not confined lto any strict conformitywith the showing in the drawing, but may be changed and modified so longas such changes and modifications mark no material departure from lthesalient features of the invention as eX- pressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing:-

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the bedstead disclosing the mechanism connectedwith the bed for making various adjustments of the springs.

Fig. 2is a plan View of a plurality of springs which are placed upon theplatform shown in plan view in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a horizontal spring frame.

Fig. 4 is a side view of my improved bedstead.

" of a swiveled connection for the supporting rods of the table.

Fig. 9 is a cross section taken along the line 9 9 of Fig. 6. Fig. 10 isa plan view of a foot rest which is detachably secured to theV footframe.

Fig. 11 is a view in detail of an obstetrical instrument adapted to besecured to the bed.

Fig. 12 is a view in perspective of a device by which the patient mayassist in raising himself.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates the head frame, 2 the foot frame,and 3 the side rails of the bed. The head frame and foot frame are eachprovided with the hole low posts 4 and 5., respectively, the posts ofeach frame being connected by the usual decorative framework and theangle irons 6.

The posts 4 of the head frame and posts 5 of the foot frame are providedat their ends with collars 7, each collar having a screw-threadedperforation in which is adapted to be inserted a. set screw 8. Legs 9are telcscopic'ally mounted in the posts ,4 and 5, and @positioned inplace by means of the set screws 8 being forced up tight against saidlegs. The yusual casters 10 are mounted at the lower ends of the legs 9.The Vside rails 3 are formed of a plurality of sections 11 and l2, therespective sections yof each rail being pivotally connected by means ofthe hinge 13 secured to the under sides of the abutting ends of thesections 11 and 12.

Near the pivoted ends of the sections 11 of the side rails are securedhollow posts M telescopically receiving legs 15, which are slidablymounted in the posts 14 and held in adjusted position by means of setscrews 16. The posts 14 and the legs 15 support the hinged end portions11 of the side'railsA when the sections 12 and the foot fra-me o' arelowered angularly with respect to the side V'rails 3, and the foot frame2 is positioned horizontally and supported luapon the -lorby casters 17mounted in a collar 18 on the legs 9 of the foot frame.

It will be observed that by reason of the difference between the radiusextending horizontally from the hinge 13 to the back of the foot frameand the radius extending diagonally from the hinge 18 to the caster atthe 'end of the leg 9 of the foot frame, that the operator wouldexperience diiiiculty in positioning the foot frame horizontally becausethe legs 9 would interfere with the movement by reason of their length,but sincethe legs are adjustable vertically within the posts of the footframe, the set screws 8 may be loosened and the legs 9 shoved into thehollow posts 5 sufiiciently to permit the legs to clear the fioor andposition the foot frame horizontally. r1`he casters 17, in this positionof the foot frame, serve the same purpose as the casters 10 when thefoot frame was in a vertical position.

llirmiy mounted upon the ends of the sections 11 of the rails 3 are aplurality of spaced bars forming an intermeoiate platform 19 uipon theopposite sides of which are pivotally mounted a head platform 2Q and afoot platform 21. rlhe head platform is formed of a plurality of equallyspaced parallel bars 22 secured near their outer ends to a cross bar 23,the outer ends of the bars 2.4 restino; upon the angle iron (i of thehead frame, while the inner ends of these bars are hingedly mounted at24 to the intermediate platform 19.

The foot platform 21 comprises a longitudinally disposed bar 25 hingedlymounted at 26 upon the platform 19, spaced parallel cross bars 27secured to the longitudinal bar 25, and an end cross bar 28 secured atright angles to the end of the longitudinal bar 25 and provided withperforated flanges 29 projecting upwardly from said cross bar. The crossbar 28 is secured in any approved manner to the sections 12 of the siderails 3. Mounted in bearings depending from the section 11 of the siderails 3, running,` transversely of the bed and located in the spacesbetween the bars forming the platform 19, are shafts 30 and 31. Theseshafts are operated by cranks 32 secured upon the outer ends of theshafts which project beyond casings 33 that house ratchets Theseratchets are rigidly mounted on and near the ends of the shafts 30 and31. Pawls 35 are pivotally mounted upon the section 11 of the thecasings 33, ratchets 34, and pawls 35 are duplicated upon the oppositeside of the bed.

its the shaft 30 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow inFig. 4, cables 36 which are secured at one end to said shaft and attheir other ends to the flanges 29 located on the platform 21, are woundupon the shaft and the foot of the bed is drawn upwardly from thehorizontal position shown in Fig. 5 in full lines, to the verticalposition shown in dotted lines.

W hen the shaft 31 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow inFig. 4, the cables 37 which are secured at one of their ends to theshaft 31 and at their outer ends to the outer free end of the headplatform 20, are wound upon the shaft 31 and the head platform iselevated at an angle to the horizontal plane passing through the middleplatform 19. The foot lever 39 is depressed, forcing the arms 40upwardly which engage bars 22 of the head platform and slightly tilting`the platform 2O from its horizontal position of rest; otherwise a greatstrain will be thrust upon the cables 37 since said cables aresubstantially in a horizontal position. The foot levers 39 arepositioned inwardly and beneath the side rail 3 having` the stirrup 41adapt-ed to receive the foot of the operator, and like the elevatinp;arm 40 are integrally mounted at one enden a rock shaft 42 mounted inbearings 43 which are secured at opposite points upon the side rails 3.

1f it beY desired at any time to lower the head platform29 or the footplatform 21, it will only be necessary to release the pawls 35 fromengagement with the teeth of the ratehets 34 when the weight of the headand foot platforms will be sumcient to cause them to descend. It will benecessary to withdraw the legs 9 of the foot frame from the hollow postso suflioiently to permit the casters 10 to rest on the floor. The setscrews are again manipulated to secure the le. 9 in supporting positionfor the foot frame.

Upon the three platforms described above placed three springs 44, 45 and46, which are hinged together by coil springs 47 and which may beconsidered collectively as a single bed spring. These springs are of thetype commonly known as the vertical coil slning'. rllhe intermer iatespring 45 is fastened to the interm` diate platform 19 Vby means ofhooks 48 which are secured to the middle platform 19. The head spring 47and the foot spring' 46 are elevated simultaneously with the headplatform 2O and the foot platform 21 respectively, while theintermediate spring' 45 must remain in sta` tionary position on theplatform 19.

Mounted upon these three sets of springs is another spring having a pairof parallel Vjointed side bars comprising sections 49,

50 and 51, hingedly connected together by means of the hinges 52, thesaid hinges being` located above and in line with the hinged zii portionof the platforms,20 and 21. Latches 53, pivotally mounted near the endsof the different sections of the side bars of the spring 54, engage pinsloer-.tedV on the abut-ting, ends of the adjacent sec-tions of in:

the side bars of the spring` and maintain the pivoted sections in rigidalinement. The transverse bars 56 are broken centrally and connectedtogether by the hinges 57, 53, the outer ends of the hinges beingysecured to the adjacent ends of the end frames 5G and the inner portions59 of the hingesabuttinp` and being secured upon the top plates 60 ofboxes 61. The transverse bars are rigidly connected at their ends to theends of the side bars by means' of plates 5,6?, whereby the bars 56 areoffset at a higher level from the plane of the side bars.

These boxes are open aty theirV ends, and since the base of the bottom62A is longer than the top, the sides of the boxes are Cut away as shownat 63 in Figs. 4 and 5. The bottoni` of each box is provided with alongitudinal slot in which is adapted to projecta pin 64, onev pin beingsecured centrally upon the cross bar 23 of the" head platform 21 andanother upon the cross bar 28 of the foot platform 21. This constructionof the boxes 61, and the pins 64 work# ing. in the longitudinal slotsformed in the baises 62 of the boxes 61, provides a sepa- ,rable andVloose connection between the frame of the spring 54 and the headI andfoot platforms, so that when the" head and foot platforms are tiltedthere will be had a certain amount of play between the lends of thespring 54, and theV head andv foot platforms.

The sections 49,A 50 and 51 of the side rail of the spring 54 areprovided withV spaced perforations through which are inserted rings 65which engage the outer edge portion of the spring 54, and secure these.portions o'f the spring to the side bars, so' that as the catches 53 arereleased from the pins 55, the spring 54 will be properly supported bythe sections 49, 50 and 51 when the head platform is tilted upwardly'and the foot platform is tilted downwardly.

The end of the spring 54 nea-r the head of the bed is rigidlysecured tothe transverse frame 56, while the end of the spring near the footframe, which is spaced from thel transverse bar 56 is connected to thesaid bar by means-of springs 66.

As shown iny ig. 7, the spring 54 may not onlyV be broken transverselyso that when the head platform is raised the head portion of the spring54 may also'bev raised, and when the foot platform is lowered that thefoot portion ofthe spring 54' may also be lowered, but it may belikewise' broken longitudinally, either portion 67 or 68j of the springbeing adapted to be tilted.V The object of hingingvthe portions 67 and68 of the springl 54 is to provide a means wherebythe patient may bereadily and comfortably tilted or rolled in the bed tilting either oneof the portions 67 or 68, as the case may be.

Upon the posts 4 of the head frames are adjustably secured, by means ofset screws 70, sleeves 71. Collars 72 are swiveled upon the sleeve 70 byIne'ansof` a pin 73', and are transversely perforated, thr'nighv whichperforations are' inserted rods 74. A set screw "5.mounted in eachcollar 72 engages arod 74 to lock said rod' in position in the col'-lars 72. Upon the upper ends ofthe rod 74 are' secured' a table 76 anddownwardly and inwardly projecting legs`7 7, the feet of which beingadapted toA rest upon the side frames 11 when the table is lowered in ahorizontal position before the patient. Before the table 76 may belowered in horizontal position, it will be necessary to remove the lowerends of the rods 74 from engagement with the clips 78 which are securedon the posts 4 of the head frame and have outwardly-extending aws 7 9adapted to engage the rods and hold them in vertical position. Securedto the underneath portion of the side rails 2Y of the' bed are spacedangle irons 80l extend-ing'- transversely of the 1bed and adapted tosupport a slidable tray 8l which is provided upon its outer ends withhandles 82. The trayl 81 is designed for the pnrpose of supportingarticles ordinarily usedin a sickroomv and beiiig slidable inv the angleirons 8O may be pulled out from either side of the bed.

The operation of my device is as follows:- o

The bed shown in Fig. 4 is in normal horizontal position. fIf it bedesired to'turn the patient upon hisside', it will not be necessary tolift him since the spring 54'may be tilted longitudinally from eitherside' of the bedby raising either'V one ofthe portions 6T and68 of thespring 54.

lf it' be desired to place the patient in a reclining sitting positionfor the purpose of feedinghim, as shown in Fig. 5, thecrank 32 may berotated in the direction indicated by the arrow to revolve the shaft 31and thereby wind the cable 37 upon said lshaft to raise the head portionof the bed in an inclined position;l but before the head platforml 2Omay be inclined in the'v position shown in F 5, it will be necessary forthe nurse to release the catches 53 from the pins of the side' bars ofthe spring' 54, so that the frame of the spring may be broken at thehinged connections of the platforms 2O and 21. The pawls 35 will engageJ(he ratchets 34, asthe crank` is rotated, so that the shaft 31 willbeautomatically locked in in' position when the crank is turned andtherefore the head platform will b'e automatically supported at anyangle in which cable 36 and permit the foot frame to be lowered in ahorizontalv position, the casters 17 engaging the floor of the room.

llO

If it be desired to elevate lthe foot frame to a vertical position, thecrank attached to the shaft will be rotated in the direction indicatedby the arrow in Fig. l, when the cable 36 will be wound upon the shaft30 and exert a pull upon the foot frame, raising the same to a verticalposition. The set screws S are released and the legs 9 allowed to fallor bev lowered from their telescopic engagement with the posts 5 untilthe casters l0 rest upon the floor of the room. The set screws 8 arethen screwed tight to hold the legs in their adjusted positions fornipporting the bottom of the bed.

Tio replace the head i sections of the springs and platform in ahorizontal position, the pawls are released from engagement with theratchets while the crank 32 is held firmly and allowed to rotate indirection opposite to the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4.The shaft 3l will slowly permit the cables, 37 to unwind as the headsection of the bed is lowered by its own weight.

Iii.)

Rollers 36 are rotatably mounted on the bar 19 of the intermediateplatform for engaging the cables 35 and are adapted to support thetables at those points in order to permit the foot frame to more freelybe placed in position. v

The platform 84, shown in Figs. 5 and l0, is adapted to be detachablysecured to the foot frame by means of spring clips which are adapted toembrace the post of said frame, and when in lowered position,

support the feet of the patient.

In Fig. ll is shown an obstetrical device for the purpose of assistingthe patient in childbirth, and it is provided with a foot rest 86 andhand-grip 87 spaced from each other by a flexible means 88, such as acord, rope or strap. The outer free ends 89 which extend beyond thehand-grip 87 are fastened to a hook 90 which is adapted to be secured tosome portion of the bed.

ln Fig. 12, is shown a lifting device by which the patient may beelevated, or by which the patient may, by pulling upon certain elementsof the device, raise himself or assist in the operation when he is beingelevated, and comprises pairs of spaced pivoted legs 91 having theirsmaller portions 92 engaging and supporting a bar 93. The feet or lowerends of the pivoted bars 91 are adapted to be supported upon the sideframes of the bed. The bar 93vprovides a cross beam upon which thehanger 94 is slidably mounted and which is provided with a rotatablymounted pulley 95 over which the rope 96 rides. The patient may besupported in any manner by one end of the rope 96, while the otherportion may be drawn downwardly by the attendant and thus elevate thepatient, or when the patient has recovered sufficient strength, he maygrasp both ends of the rope 96 kand by pulling upon the same,sufficiently elevate himself for Awhatever purposes that may be desired.

1What is claimed is l. A bedstead having a head frame and a foot frameconnected by side rails, each side rail being formed of a plurality ofsections hingedly mounted upon each other, whereby the foot frame may beswung intov a horizontal position, the posts of said foot frame adaptedto be foreshortened to permit the foot frame to move through an arc of acircle and be placed in a horizontal position, a plurality of casterssecured to each of the foot posts between their ends and projectinglaterally therefrom to support it on the floor when it is swung down,and a platform providing a foot rest detachably secured to the upperside of the foot frame when it is so swung down, said platformsubstantially covering the foot frame from the side rails to the topportion thereof.

2. A bedstead having a head frame and a foot frame connected by rails,each side rail being' formed of a plurality of sections hingedly mountedupon each other, whereby the foot frame may be swung into a horizontalposition, a plurality of springs including a coil spring and a wovenWire spring supported on the bed and transversely divided into sections,the adjacent sections l of each spring being pivotally mounted upon eachother, said woven wire spring having longitudinal sections hingedlymounted on each other, the transverse hinge lines of the woven wirespring being located substantially above the corresponding hinge linesof the coil spring, and means for lowering the,

foot frame.

A bedstead having a head frame and a foot frame connected by side rails,each side rail being formed of a plurality of sections hingedly mountedupon each other, whereby the foot frame may be swung into a horizontalposition, a plurality of platforms supported between the side rails, theouter end platforms being hingedly connected to the central platform, apair of bed springs supported on the platforms and each formed of aplurality of sections hingedly mounted upon each other, the outer ends`of the end sections of one of the springs and platforms being looselyand detachably connected with each other and the corresponding hingelines of the two springs being located one substantially above theother,

fl. A bedstead having a head frame and a foot frame connected by siderails, an intermediate platform secured to the side rails, a footplatform hingedly connected to one end of the intermediate platform, ahead platform hingedly connected to the other end of the intermedia-teplatform and sup- Y ported at its outer end upon a portion of theheadframe, a spring secured to the 1ntermediate platform formed of aplurality of hingedly mounted sections7 a second bed spring supportedupon the first-mentioned bed .spring and formed of a plurality ofsections hingedly mount-ed upon each other, means proj eoting from theouter ends of the head platform and the foot platform and looselyengaging the ends of the second mentioned springs to preventdisplacement of said springs, means for tilting the head 10 platform,and means for lowering the footplatform.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature.

ELI H. VVILLIAM'S.

